As someone who is pretty new to the world of stenciling, I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated by the process. It seems like it’s would be easy for paint or ink to bleed through and ruin the image that’s being created — but that’s just the perfectionist in me talking. After […]

As someone who is pretty new to the world of stenciling, I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated by the process. It seems like it’s would be easy for paint or ink to bleed through and ruin the image that’s being created — but that’s just the perfectionist in me talking. After watching this video by Traci Bautista, where she breaks down 6 unique techniques for working with stencils, I was definitely ready to give it a try. What’s helpful about this video is seeing the ease with which Traci works with colors, and how she transitions between using a stencil and then flipping it over and using the excess paint and ink to create a mask. She plays with positive and negative spaces with a lot of freedom, and her particular style has a lot to offer both novice and experienced stencil enthusiasts.

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Techniques Featured in this Video:

Black Gesso Prints – A little black gesso goes a long way when used with Traci’s Floral 2 Stencil. This technique is a fabulous way to showcase the bright and vibrant colors of a background by introducing black outlines.

Stencil Prints – With this technique, you can create a stunning layered print by stenciling with paint, spraying with ink, and then pressing a fresh piece of paper onto the design. The end result is gorgeous multi-colored print.

White Resist Prints – After creating a colorful stenciled background, Traci uses acrylic paint and a foam brayer to add portions of white. She does this while her first layer of paint is still wet, which allows the colors to mix.

Monoprint Acrylic Skins – Paint over a transparent document protector and then set your stencil down on the wet paint. Once the paint dries, you can remove the stencil and you’ll be left with a beautiful skin that showcases the details of your stencil.

Stamping + Masking with Stencils – Spray a little water over a stencil design to reactive the dried paint, and then press a fresh piece of paper over it to create a ghost print. You can also paint or spray directly onto a stencil and use another piece of paper to pick up the extra paint that’s on the top of the stencil.

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Thank you Traci for such an amazing video! To pick up even more inspiring tutorials and projects from this talented artist, be sure to stop by our brand-new Artist Collection. Find everything from Traci’s books to her creative stencil designs, and unique stamps.

Whether you’re new to the art journal scene or a seasoned veteran, we’re excited to reveal today’s must-have materials to work with, chosen by top artists in the industry. Follow along as they divulge their favorite art journal items to work with, insider tips, and tutorials: Traci Bautista’s Must-Haves: Speedball soft rubber brayer Sakura waterbrush […]

Whether you’re new to the art journal scene or a seasoned veteran, we’re excited to reveal today’s must-have materials to work with, chosen by top artists in the industry. Follow along as they divulge their favorite art journal items to work with, insider tips, and tutorials:

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Pan pastels are gorgeous and highly pigmented, perfect to use for full-bodied color or like watercolors with brush and water.

ICE Resin paper – I coat old book pages and paper scraps with ICE Resin that’s left after my bezel pours. These snips of paper are saved and then brought out during art journaling and collage work to add texture and a bit of the unexpected. Resin loves paper and there is something magical about using snippets of this translucent-yet-strong paper in your art.

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Junelle Jacobsen’s Must-Haves:

Homemade art journals – The kind where the old and loved book gets painted with new white gesso and wrinkled with paint and ink. I love everything about homemade art journaling. It is a transformational wonderment of delights.

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We’d like to give a huge “thank you” to each artist for sharing their favorite art journaling materials and interesting mixed-media tips with our blog readers! These artists have been featured in a number of Stampington titles including Art JournalingandSomerset Studio.

I’ve eagerly been awaiting the arrival of this particular Thursday because today marks the beginning of our first-ever blog hop! With Pam Carriker’s brand-new stamp line making its debut on our shelves, we wanted to celebrate by hosting a number of mixed-media projects that feature her unique designs. We’ve also invited some of our friends, […]

Please join me in welcoming our first spotlighted artist to kick off the “hop,” the oh-so-talented Pam Carriker, as she takes you step-by-step through this eye-catching Stamped Art Page project idea.

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Hello Somerset Place! I’ll have you know, I originally developed and produced this new stamp line for my own workshop and class use. I wanted some fun and cool stamps that would be great for journaling, not just images that would be good for a few stampings and then put away. Many of the images came directly from my own journals as I noticed doodles and markings making appearances in my work. I hope you’ll find unlimited uses for these images in your work as well!

1. I began with a sheet of watercolor paper that I actually used to clean off stencils. When I’ve used a stencil I will lay it down on a sheet of hot press watercolor paper and wipe it off with a baby wipe – the result is a background of interesting partial stencil designs. You can also ‘clean’ off your stamps on the paper in the same way.

2. I ‘imperfectly’ stamped some of the Thoughts of Courage stamp with Staz On ink onto the background. Text peeking through a journal page adds a lot of interest.

3. Next I added some texture with thePunchinella Honeycombstamp and some chalk inks. This adds a soft touch of texture that blends in with the background.

4. Some design elements were then ‘imperfectly’ stamped with Staz On ink. When you imperfectly stamp an image you are already changing it up in a way that makes it unique to your art.

5. For the focal points of the page spread, I added my Face Map Stencil images by tracing the design with a water-soluble blackpencil.

6. Activating the pencil with awet brushhelps to begin to form the face.

7. More texture is added to the shaded areas behind the face with theSketched Backgroundstamp and Staz On ink.

8. Next I stamped the small sizedI Will Soarwings onto a piece of deli wrap (dry wax) paper.

9. I then cut out and adhered them to the page with Mixed MediaAdhesive.

10. To shade the wings I stamped some chalk ink out onto my palette and picked it up with a brush and painted it onto the wings.

11. With the same chalk ink, I stamped the Column of Dots onto the background to help this color move around the page a bit and tie into the wings.

12. To enhance a shadowy image of the My Heart Stencil that peeked through the background, I stamped the My Heart Lifts image over it.

13. Using colors from the background, I painted acrylic paint washes around the focal elements to help them pop from the page.

14. With a White Big Pitt Artist Pen, I added highlights to the face and other elements on the page and brushed them out to blend with a wet brush.

15. To finish off the page I added some journaling with a black pen, and highlighted selected areas with a white pen to make the letters pop.

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We’d like to give a huge “thank you” to Pam for sharing this wonderful mixed-media project with our blog readers! Pam Carriker has also been featured in a number of Stampington titles including Art JournalingandSomerset Studio, and offers a number of project tutorials at The Studio. You can explore more of her work in our new Pam Carriker Collection.

For additional information and to view more of Pam Carriker’s artwork, please stop by her blog (and say hi!) at:pamcarriker.com/blog

*STAY TUNED: Every Thursday, a new artist will be posting his/her own project using Pam’s new stamp line (on their blog), and we will include the link here! Come back to discover these new projects and learn how to recreate them yourself:

Call to participate: Have you created your own artwork using Pam’s new stamp designs? If so, please post your project in a blog post titled “Blog Hop: Mixed-Media with Guest Artist Pam Carriker’s New Stamp Designs”and link back to this page to jump aboard the blog hop bandwagon. We can’t wait to see what our creative readers come up with!